As members of the Cofidis and T-Mobile teams, Bradley Wiggins and Mark
Cavendish ordinarily ride Time and Giant bikes respectively on the road
(we featured Wiggins' Time VXRS Ulteam back in the summer, and we currently have an actual
one of Cavendish's
Giant TCRs on our test bench). On the track though, they ride altogether
different machines, and Cyclingnews' Ben Atkins squeezed into their
Rennerszone at the recent Gent
Six-Days to check them out.

A rich history

Terry
Dolan has been building frames at his facility in Merseyside, England
since the 1970s, having been taught the craft by celebrated Liverpool
framebuilder Harry Quinn. Although most of his production is now made
up of carbon monocoques and off-the-peg frames made overseas, the company
still produces around four custom bespoke frames a week which is where
Dolan's passion really lies.

Over the years, his bikes have won over 300 national championships
(mostly on the track), and Dolan has developed long-term relationships
with world champions like Chris Boardman and Yvonne MacGregor. He has
also worked with the Great Britain national track squad since 1988,
and the team - including ProTour riders Wiggins and Cavendish - now
rides his frames in events where they don't have the use of their UK
Sport carbon fibre ones.

Both frames are very different - apart from the obvious size - and
are designed by Terry Dolan to suit each rider individually. Wiggins'
frame is made from Dedacciai's Force tubing - a 7003 aluminium - and
has been designed to be as stiff as possible. In fact, to this end,
Dolan has used two 57mm down tubes: one in the usual place, and the
other as a top tube! A common feature of frames built for taller riders
has also been utilised here, where the top tube has been dropped a few
centimetres to make the front triangle smaller and stiffer. The head
tube has been left at the appropriate length to avoid the need for spacers
and make the front as rigid as can be. Speaking of front-end rigidity,
Dolan has eschewed carbon in favour of a pair of new old stock Dedacciai
steel forks with a 1" steerer.

Cavendish's bike, according to Terry Dolan, "was not so complicated
because he is a much more compact rider than Bradley". The frame itself
is similar in design to Dolan's standard off the peg Carbon Pista, but
made to measure for Cavendish, using custom z108 carbon tubes from Dedacciai.
These have a much squarer profile than those used on stock frames, which,
Dolan says, "increases stiffness in key areas." The carbon theme is
continued with an integrated Alpina carbon track fork equipped with
an alloy steerer.

Dressing them up

Naturally, both frames also feature custom paint jobs. Cavendish's
is a stylishly sober black and white, which seems to be done to almost
mirror the scheme on his road going Giant TCR Advanced, but Wiggins'
has been seriously pimped. The mostly white tubes have the 'Dolan'
decals decorated with the world champion's rainbows, reflecting the
titles that he holds in both individual and team pursuit, while the
top tube is draped in a huge British flag. There's no mistaking whose
bike this is, but his name's on it just in case…

The geometry of both bikes is also fairly comparable to their corresponding
road machines, but with the exception of longer top tubes. Wiggins'
track bike is just 5mm longer from the saddle nose to the centre of
the handlebars, while Cavendish's is a massive 23mm longer, partly accounted
for by the 570mm top tube compared to 555mm on his Giant.

Wiggins' saddle height was set to just 2mm higher than his road machine
at the time that we measured it, but the mechanic informs us that this
level fluctuates throughout the event, depending on how he's feeling.
Cavendish's saddle, on the other hand, is 8mm lower than his road bike,
and both of these differences can be at least partly attributed to their
different crank lengths. Both riders are using Dura-Ace track chainsets
- Cavendish on 165mm cranks, and the considerably taller Wiggins on
170mm. Apart from obvious reasons of height, this difference in crank
lengths can be attributed to their different riding styles: The lightning
fast leg speed of sprinter Cavendish contrasts with the languid smooth
cadence of pursuiter Wiggins. These cranks differ considerably from
their road bikes where both use 175mm-long arms, partly because of the
increased volume of high cadence riding needed on the track, but also
for the obvious need to avoid the potentially calamitous issue of catching
a pedal on the track's steep banking.

Both riders are using Australian full carbon X-Treme Aeromax Elite
tri-spoke wheels on the front and the rear, although both substitute
Mavic Comete rear discs for Derny and time trial events. X-Treme describes
its Aeromax Elites as "part tri-spoke, part disc" and it's easy to see
why with their massive 90mm rim sections and huge aero-profiled 'spokes'.
Despite this huge amount of material, though, the wheels boast a claimed
weight of 749g and 890g for front and rear respectively.

Wiggins' wheels are similarly dressed up with the same one-off paintjob
as his custom frame, while Cavendish's have been left in the standard
carbon finish. Both riders are using track-specific 23mm Continental
Sonderklasse 165 tubulars.

The tradition of trackies keeping their gearing a secret from each
other seems to be no more - well, they didn't mind telling us anyway!
Considering their different styles, it's almost surprising that they
both use a 52 tooth chainring with a 16 tooth cog. This produces a gear
of 85.4in (6.81m development), for those who understand these things.
In Derny paced events both riders switch to a massive 54x14T gear, which
works out to 101.4in (8.08m).

The finishing kits of both bikes are markedly different. Cavedish's
carbon frame also features a lot of carbon parts - mostly from Bontrager's
XXX Lite range - whereas Wiggins' is entirely aluminium and a mixture
of Deda Elementi and Shimano Dura-Ace. Both riders have opted for aluminium
bars though, with Cavendish sticking with Bontrager Race bars, and Wiggins
with a set that the mechanic is no longer able to identify. Both pairs
have an anatomical bend and are covered in white bar tape, but the brand
depends largely on what the mechanic can find at the time.

The other contact points again show a contrast between the riders.
Cavendish is happy to stick with the Selle Italia Signo Team Edition
saddle and Shimano Dura-Ace SPD-SL pedals that are provided by T-Mobile's
technical sponsors for his Giant road bike. Wiggins, however, goes for
a complete change and the comfort of a well-worn Selle San Marco Rolls
saddle and Look Keo pedals in contrast with his Cofidis team issue offerings
from Selle Italia and Time.

In an environment where reliability and stiffness are king, and the
only gradient to climb is when riders swing up the banking (and they're
doing that to slow down anyway), weight is not high on the list of priorities.
Nevertheless, Cavendish's carbon bike comes in only slightly higher
than the UCI's minimum 6.8kg (which applies to all bikes regardless
of type and discipline). Wiggins' aluminium bike, on the other hand,
comes in almost a full kilo higher - hardly surprising, as it's considerably
bigger than Cavendish's and built for stiffness and strength.

Wiggins and Cavendish are both focusing their 2008 season on gold in
Beijing and recently made headlines when it was announced that they
would be missing
next year's Tour de France in order to prepare specifically for
their chosen track events. They may well compete together in the Olympic
Madison race, where Wiggins won a hard-fought bronze in Athens,
and Cavendish was world
champion in 2005 (both of them riding with Rob Hayles). The Six-Day
races should prove to be an ideal opportunity to test their compatibility.